TV Cartoon's Flashes Send 700 Japanese Into Seizures

By SHERYL WuDUNN

Published: December 18, 1997

TOKYO, Thursday, Dec. 18—
One moment they were happily munching on their dinner and watching their favorite cartoon show on television. The next moment, hundreds of children across the country were shaking and convulsing and being rushed to hospitals.

In a bizarre illustration of the medical effects that television can have on viewers, more than 700 people were taken to hospitals after having been affected by flashing lights on an animated television show broadcast Tuesday night.

Some children vomited blood and others had seizures or lost consciousness. No one died, though, and no one is expected to. Producers of the cartoon, which is highly popular among kindergarten and primary school children, say that they were stumped over how an animation technique that has been used ''hundreds of times'' could cause such a widespread, violent reaction.

''This may be the first case of mass suffering from photo stimulation,'' Toshio Yamauchi, a professor at Saitama Medical School and chairman of an organization called Electronic Screen Game and Seizures. ''We would like to study this thoroughly,'' he said.

As cartoon makers push the limits to find new ways to entice children to their programs, doctors and psychologists warn that this episode is a stunning reminder of how vulnerable children can be to certain contemporary television shows. The incident is likely to prompt calls here for stiffer controls on cartoons and shows for children.

Children across the country arrived at school on Wednesday with the greeting: ''Are you okay?''

''I felt a little dizzy toward the end of the program,'' a third grade student told a Japanese newspaper. She said that she quickly recovered and added: ''I'd be sad if I could not watch the program anymore.''

Not everyone had such a mild reaction. Victims said they got headaches or felt nauseated. Others said they felt groggy or carsick. Some victims recovered within an hour, while others were put in intensive care with breathing difficulties.

Most victims were children, but some adults were also affected and some spent the night in the hospital.

Television networks immediately pulled the show, called Pocket Monsters, which features characters created by the video game and toy maker Nintendo Company.

The show was first broadcast at 6:30 P.M. on Tuesday and about 20 minutes after it started, there was a scene in which what is described as a vaccine bomb explodes in an attempt to kill a computer virus. A bright red explosion fills the screen. The red and blue lights flash for about five seconds.

''There was an explosion scene toward the end of the show,'' said Takaaki Kii, a spokesman for Shogakkan Production Company, which produced the show. ''But those type of scenes are seen on many animation programs.''

The scene apparently combined almost simultaneously two techniques that are frequently used in cartoons. The first, called ''paka-paka'' in Japanese, uses different-colored lights flashing alternatively to cause a sense of tension. The second, called ''flash,'' emits a strong beam of light.

It was this climactic scene that apparently set off the convulsions and vomiting. Dr. Yamauchi said light emitted at frequencies between 10 hertz and 30 hertz, a unit of frequency meaning cycles per second, can induce seizures and that the color red is also stimulative.

At one hospital in western Tokyo, six children between the ages of 9 and 15 arrived at the hospital after they had convulsions. A pediatrician at the hospital said that the symptoms appeared similar to the episodes some children experience when they play certain video games.

''I was shocked to see my daughter lose consciousness,'' said Yukiko Iwasaki, whose 8-year-old suffered a seizure. ''She started to breathe only when I hit her on the back.''

It is not clear whether all 700 victims have seizure disorders. So far, no evidence has emerged that any were epileptic.

Because the phenomenon is so unusual, doctors in Japan and the United States could not immediately identify the condition, but some medical experts here have called it ''optically stimulated epilepsy.'' In Japan, more than 10,000 people are said to have suffered this neurological disorder, which can be easily treated with medication, according to Japanese news reports. Few cases have been reported in people over 20 years of age.

Some doctors said that young children are particularly sensitive or predisposed to such a reaction because they have a lower threshold for seizures. Moreover, if the children were sitting close to the television they could have been even more sensitive to the emitting light.

''Five to 10 percent of the population is said to be susceptible to flashing lights,'' Shunsuke Otawara, a professor at Okayama University Medical School, told a Japanese newspaper.

Seizures from such an episode are unlikely to case any brain damage, doctors say, but they might be a sign that the victims are susceptible to seizures or could develop epilepsy or other disorders later in life.

Not surprisingly, a fiery debate has ensued over who exactly is to blame.

Hiroshi Yamauchi, president of Nintendo, said his company was not to blame and instead criticized Television Tokyo for the way in which it broadcast the program. Pocket Monster software for Nintendo's portable game has sold about 7.5 million pieces in less than two years.

''This problem arose because of the way TV Tokyo produced the show,'' he said.

Television Tokyo announced Wednesday that it will investigate the problem and said it would cancel other broadcasts of this episode of the program, which is nicknamed ''Pokemon.''

Police officials have said they would investigate the incident to see if TV Tokyo may have been professionally negligent.

Photo: Japanese high school students watched a large-screen news broadcast yesterday showing the cartoon ''Pocket Monsters,'' which reportedly set off seizures in more than 700 people when the program was aired. (Reuters)